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Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - May 2014

Here in my USDA Hardiness Zone 6b garden in central Indiana, I am delighted with each bloom, each leaf, each sprout that returns after one of the coldest winters on record. I do believe our snow cover saved many a plant.

There is a general sense, too, that those plants that survived the winter are greener, have more blooms and seem stronger for the experience.

The blooms are still just a tiny bit behind past years, but considering what they went through, I am happy to wait for each and every bloom.

I noticed walking through the garden that I like flowers with bell-shapes. I cannot imagine ringing in spring without Lily of the Valley, Convallaria majalis. It's an old favorite, going all the way back to when I was a kid and picked them in my grandma's garden.

I still think columbine, Aquilegia sp., are some of the prettiest flowers around.

Aquilegia sp.

I could show you dozens of pictures of single and double flowering columbine in bloom now, but I think I'll just stick to this diminutive columbine. I bought it years ago and am working on getting it to self-sow in the garden.

Elsewhere in the garden, the first of the clematis is blooming.

Clematis with gillyflowers

I'm sorry I don't know which Clematis it is. I do now the flower below is Dianthus gratianopolitanus 'Bath's Pink'. I like calling dianthus by their very English common name, gillyflowers. They smell fabulous, by the way.

One would think from the pictures so far that my garden is awash with whites, pinks and purples and it is. I do have some blues mixed in, including Spanish bluebells, Hyacinthoides hispanica.

Spanish bluebells, Hyacinthoides hispanica

Just down that path, there is also a touch of yellow from some jonquils.

I love this big shrub. It provides great cover for birds, bunnies, and garden fairies and reminds me of my grandmothers who had similar shrubs in their gardens.

How about your garden? I'm sure you have all kinds of blooms in the month of May. We'd love to have you share them with us! It’s easy to join in for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Just post on your own blog about what's blooming in your garden right now, outdoors or indoors. You can include pictures, lists, common names, botanical names, whatever you’d like to do to showcase your blooms.

Then leave a comment and put your name and a link back to your bloom day post in the Mr. Linky widget below. (This month, I'm using a different version which should prompt you to upload a thumbnail image from your blog post. Use that to showcase your best bloom and further entice us to come and virtually visit your garden.)

Happy Bloom Day!

“We can have flowers nearly every month of the year.” ~ Elizabeth Lawrence

Thank you for hosting Carol. Your gardens are looking lovely. It was a slow start to spring this year but May has finally arrived and the gardens are catching up...love the month of May! Happy Bloom Day!

Things at May Dreams Gardens are looking absolutely dreamy, Carol. What a show you're enjoying right now, with all those charming bells and sweet scents. We wish you and everyone else here a glorious May Bloom Day!

Wow Carol your garden is a sea of blooms...we have a strange spring with early bulbs still going and all other blooms not showing up much...many buds though so I expect an explosion soon much later than usual.

The view of the bluebells in your garden is gorgeous, Carol! I am with you--after the past winter, every bloom is appreciated, no matter how small. I'll join in with a post just as soon as it stops raining so I can take some photos without getting soaked.

I love your bell shaped flowers--so many this month. I agree that Columbine are some of the prettiest flowers, yours is lovely and ours (here in Texas) are on the down side of their bloom time. Thanks for hosting, Happy Blooms!

I couldn't get the widget to actually post my photo - or post - Missing op? It looked like it accepted the photo. No matter, I love seeing all the blooms - and thank Carol for hosting this wonderful project.

I'm not sure that my thumbnail posted, either, but here's hoping. I'm glad to see your garden survived the harsh winter. We lost several plants and spring was slow to come but what a difference a month makes! Thank you once again for hosting GBBD. RamblinwithAM

Your garden looks lovely! I especially like the Spanish Bluebells, the clematis and gilly flowers. (I didn't know that them by that name!) Thank you for hosting another Blooom Day. I always look forward to seeing what's blooming in other areas!

Carol, A month ago, your garden was far ahead of mine; but after several 80 degree days in Gettysburg, we seem to have caught up. Although the garden is still behind where it was last year at this time, my blooms this month look a lot like yours. -Jean

My goodness - I can't believe how many people participate in this meme - you can't possibly look at all the gardens! Your garden is looking great and is at much the same stage as mine or maybe just a little ahead. I have bluebells and clematis, but not aquilegia yet. My lilac is just out. I love your jonquils - all our narcissus are long over. Thanks again for hosting this meme - it is sometimes a struggle to get it done but I am so glad I do, even if it is late.

Hi Carol,I can see that everyone is choosing from a plethora of flowers in bloom at the moment. A far cry from February. Now is the time to think about flowers that might fill in those gaps in the cold or hot parts of the year...

All my blooms went early this year in Southern California. Now we are in a heat wave. I was lucky to have just a few Lily of the Valley bloom. I wish I could grow them here like my Grandmother did when I grew up back east.